Akamai unveils comprehensive cybersecurity guide for 2025

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has released new guidelines for manufacturers to enhance the security of IoT devices amid increasing cyber threats.

Akamai has announced the release of the "Defenders' Guide 2025: Fortify the Future of Your Defense," a comprehensive resource aimed at strengthening cybersecurity strategies for organisations.

The guide promises to equip cybersecurity practitioners with practical research and insights to better protect against cyber threats.

Boaz Gelbord, Senior Vice President and Chief Security Officer at Akamai, commented on the significance of the guide: "This guide stands as a reminder of the importance for CISOs to incorporate research into their overall cyber strategy. Leveraging leading-edge technical analyses of attacks to inform people, process, and technology enables organizations to mitigate risk within an increasingly complex digital landscape. This approach can ultimately reduce costs by optimizing our security investments and reducing the risk of costly incidents." Gelbord further emphasised the need for a research-driven strategy to develop relevant and pragmatic programs aligned with the latest threat developments.

The Defenders' Guide distinguishes itself from traditional threat reports by providing actionable intelligence rather than focusing on abstract trends. "The cybersecurity industry has traditionally published major threat reports to serve CISOs and leaders of cybersecurity — and that's important. What's equally important is an annual report for first-line defenders. The Defenders' Guide is exactly that — and it's the first of its kind in the industry. It gives defenders a comprehensive, centralized resource that consolidates new findings and best practices to stay ahead of emerging threats," said Mitch Mayne, Head of Cybersecurity Research at Akamai. "By synthesizing top-tier research, we not only empower cyber defenders with crucial insights, we also enable them to more efficiently allocate their limited time and resources toward the most impactful advancements in the field."

The report highlights a new risk-scoring model developed to assess organizational vulnerabilities by evaluating several factors, including application importance and network complexity. It offers recommendations such as endpoint impact analysis and segmentation strategies. The guide also sheds light on botnet families such as NoaBot and RedTail, offering practical steps for mitigation, including patch management and training for employees.

In terms of network architecture, the guide provides insights into VPN vulnerabilities being exploited by advanced threat actors, with solutions like secure LDAP protocol adoption and firmware updates. It also addresses challenges related to cross-site scripting (XSS), underlining the necessity of layered defenses to tackle user input processing vulnerabilities.

In the realm of host security, the guide discusses vulnerabilities found in Kubernetes, an open-source container orchestration platform, outlining risks related to command injection attacks. This section underlines the importance of proactive patching and maintaining vigilance against emerging threats in containerised environments.